EAST BREMERTON — These days, bucking the decline of brick and mortar retailing requires superpowers.

Or, at least, selling the illustrated periodicals of those who possess such abilities.

In a landscape increasingly dominated by e-commerce, comic book and gaming retailers have managed to keep a tangible presence in shops around the Kitsap Peninsula. Take, for example, The Comics Keep at 5060 Highway 303 near Fred Meyer. An independent store now three decades old just moved locations north on the highway, and is expanding, not contracting.

"Comic books still have a following of people that still like the tangible," said Shawn Fellows, a computer analyst in his "day job" who recently purchased the store. "There's something about having a comic book in your hand and going through a store."

Tables in the back also bring a diverse gaming community to the store, where they can buy and play complex strategy board and card games on the spot.

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The Comics Keep owner Shawn Fellows with some classic comics behind the counter in his East Bremerton shop in the Fred Meyer complex.(Photo: Larry Steagall / Kitsap Sun)

The Comics Keep also maintains subscriber lists, sending the newest releases to those who sign up for them. It's another way they've built and kept a loyal following, Fellows said.

There's also a personal touch that doesn't exist within the online world. Most of the time, walking into the Comics Keep means striking up a chat with Dana Andrus, who has managed the store for 28 years. Theirs is not what you'd call a corporate culture.

"It has always operated like a family," said Andrus, whose business card holder advertises he's "Ye Old Miserly Comics Shopkeeper."

The store was founded by Louise Howe more than three decades ago as a used book retailer at 133 Pacific Ave. — a commercial block that was razed about a decade ago to make room for the Bremerton Memorial Plaza. At some point, old comics started joining the paperbacks coming through the door. And eventually, some four owners later, those comics became the dominant product.

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Regular customer George David of Bremerton buys comics at The Comics Keep in East Bremerton.(Photo: Larry Steagall / Kitsap Sun)

Andrus walked in the door of the Pacific Avenue store one day in 1990 and asked for a job. The same night, he got an offer. He's been there ever since.

The generations that he's watched come through the door have different tastes and are increasingly electronic in their media consumption. Yet there are consistencies over that time. The store's bestsellers remain those "evergreen characters" of DC and Marvel fame.

"I've always enjoyed coming here," said Richard Cosar, a longtime comic book collector who's been coming to the store for decades. "It's a great community of people."

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The Comics Keep is now located in the Fred Meyer complex in East Bremerton.(Photo: Larry Steagall / Kitsap Sun)